With certain vehicles, it is important to prevent debris from accessing and winding around the axles of the vehicle. One example is land fill compactors (LFCs). Landfills include vast quantities of trash and refuse of varied shape, size, weight and texture. LFCs are used to move the refuse around the landfill for processing, or to evenly distribute the refuse across the landfill prior to being covered with soil. More specifically, as the acreage of a landfill is of a finite quantity, it is beneficial to evenly distribute the refuse to take maximum advantage of the available space. In addition, it is beneficial to break down the refuse into smaller pieces to both facilitate this space usage and lessen the time required for disintegration, biodegradation, dissolution, etc.
While effective, the terrain encountered at a landfill by a LFC is as a result very unpredictable and often sparse or inconsistent in nature. Moreover, as the land fill is being continually added to with new debris typically by dump truck or conveyor, the debris is often initially provided in piles. Over time this can create significant inclines and declines over which the LFC must traverse. To do so, a typical LFC includes four or more wheels having metal rims from which protrude a plurality of spaced and elongated cleats or tips. Such wheels are designed to not only dig deeply into the refuse and provide the traction necessary to navigate, but also chop or otherwise break down the refuse as they rotate.
A particular challenge faced by LFCs is the prevention or abatement of refuse being entrained around the axles of the wheels. This is particularly true of long thin refuse such as wire, cable, or the like that may wrap around the axle or get trapped between the side edge of a wheel and a portion of the wheel-well or chassis of the LFC. Such entrained material may lock the wheel in position potentially crippling operation of the machine, as well as decreasing efficiency and increasing fuel consumption.
In light of the foregoing, certain manufacturers have started to provide structures to limit the ability of such refuse reaching the axle. For example, striker bars can be placed fore and/or aft of the wheel to prevent large pieces of debris from being carried around by the wheel. In addition, a radially extending wall made up of multiple plates may be welded around the entire circumference of the rim at a laterally innermost position. However, the installation of such a wall necessarily adds significant weight to the LFC, and thus may decrease its fuel efficiency. In addition, such walls may require significant time and effort for installation to properly fit around the entire circumference of the wall.